Having earned a B achelor’s of Interior
Design this January, Mika Gilmore is one of
the BAC’s newest alums to keep an eye on.
The emerging designer is busier than ever
these days. She is working full-time at
HMFH Architects, Inc., and when she’s not
grinding out the days, she’s e xploring new
ways to cre ate furniture ba sed on hexagonal
shapes in her burgeoning Hexy furniture
line. She’s a l so de veloping concepts for
lighting fixtures and architectural product
design while launching the te xtile line,
MIVI. This new line will incorporate the
orthogona l ink design drawings left to her
by her late uncle, a graphic de signer.
For Mika , working collaboratively, while
giving back to the community, is a crucial
a nd necessa ry element to her design process.
“I want my design to support the community:
su staining local independent artists, workers,
and businesses.” Her Hexy Wall design
is doing just that. Mika credits Pushpin Me,
a site developed by former BAC student Kyle
Bra nchesi and current BAC student Amit
Shah, for getting her work on the internet.
This made it possible for her to show her
work on the spot to Brent Refsland who
co-owns the design store, Room 68 with Eric
Portnoy and Nick Siema ska in Jamaic a Plain,
MA. Brent liked what he saw and bought
a set of Hexy Walls for the store, confirming
the commercia l appeal of Mika’s elegant
design. With the Hexy Walls for sa le, Mika
contacted fellow a rtist and friend Nicholas
Doriss to fabricate the Hexy Walls out of his
lab, ND Design, in South Boston.
Looking back, Mika’s e xperience with
design began at a young age. Her father,
a woodworker, included Mika on his
homegrown woodworking project s. Living
in a creative environment would eventua lly
lead Mika to the BAC, “I was born at
the BAC! I could barely draw a cube when
I a rrived.” The Ac ademic Only Program
(AOP), which focuse s s olely on ac ademics
for the first two semesters, de veloped Mika’s
design process, where she lea rned to think
three-dimen sion ally through drawing
a nd model making. “My experience
in AOP was the most important part of
my education al journey.”
To describe Mika Gilmore a s an active
designer in the Boston community is a n
u nderstatement. The young alum and
emerging profe ssiona l designer has found
a way to have the two worlds of academics
a nd practice inform each other suc c es sfully,
while encouraging her exploration as an
a rtist and a maker. Mika’s work captures
the essenc e of sustainable and modern
design: the ability for the design itself to
adapt. “I feel that I have found my place in
the world, a nd I have discovered a way to
funnel my energ y, something that wa s much
needed before design was a part of my life.”
Mika Gilmore ’12
“It was amazing to feel the switch—from
school informing most of my progress at
work —to work informing most of my
progress at school.”
Mika Gilmore
PRACTICE
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